Magic of the Opera
by Allanna Stone
Summary: Desire. Seduction. Passion. Betrayal. Revenge. In all your fantasies/ You always knew/ That man and mystery/ Were both in you...
1. Chapter 1

**Magic of the Night**

**I do not own Phantom of the Opera or any of the songs that will pop up during this story.**

**SUMMERY:**

**Desire. Seduction. Passion. Betrayal. Revenge. In all your fantasies/ You always knew/ That man and mystery/ Were both in you...**

The doors to the burnt out shell of the Opera Populaire creaked open to reveal a shivering girl. She stepped inside, her bare feet leaving wet puddles as she struggled to shut the door behind her without much luck. Finally with a loud grunt, she slammed the wooden door shut and leaned up against it, panting hard.

She looked up as so that her mismatched eyes could adjust to the dim interere of the abandoned opera house. She squared her shoulders and stepped inside, ingoring all the water that she was dripping everywhere. The young girl passed by several rooms before coming to a giant grand staircase. She boldly stepped up the stairs, pausing every now and then to see if the steps were sturdy. When she made it up all the way, she dared to lean on the handrail to gaze out at the once glorious front foyer.

What was left of the greeting hall was now charcoal; the once marble floors were scorched; the tall pillars were caked with smoke marks and dust; the curtains were now fluttering pieces of cloth, kissed with black from smoke and flames.

The young girl smiled sadly at the terrible sight before her as she turned to go and find a place to stay for the night. She frowned as she saw something in the dim light, zipping around the corner. The curious girl ran after the thing before coming to a door that was partially cracked open. The girl took a deep breath before pushing the door open.

~xXx~

Erik scowled as he looked up from his organ.

"Damn those rats," he growled, standing up and stalking to the staircase that led to the upper floors of the old opera house. Once he was on the floor where the racket was coming from, he peeked into every two way mirror, looking for the source of the noise. When he found it, he growled, about ready to show himself and demand what the creature was doing.

Her back was to him, but all that he could tell of her was that she was petite- standing under five feet tall. She wore her hair up off of her neck in a newpaper boy's cap, and she wore a tattered dress with trousers underneath and bare feet. Her jacket was worn and had several patches on it that kept it from falling apart. Her feet were heavily callused and scarred, reminding Erik of the ballet rat's feet when they occupied the opera house.

Erik squinted to see what had the girl's attention and smiled when he saw that it was the small litter of Persian kittens that he had allowed to live at the opera house. Their mother had died while giving birth to them, so Erik had raised them, feeing as though he was obliged to do so.

The girl giggled, an odd sound to Erik's ear, as she cuddled one of the kittens under her chin. She suddenly turned around, showin g the opera ghost her face. And what a face it was! Her skin was a fair as porcelin, her nose just as dainty and delicate; her mouth was a perfect rosebud shape, her cheekbones were round, giving her an innocent baby look. but her strongest features were her eyes; one was silver, the other was sapphire blue; both fringed with illeagal eyelashes that batted her rosy cheeks whenever she blinked.

The other four kittens were all crowded in her lap, all of them trying to knock the others off of their warm perch. The girl giggled again and the phantom realized why the sound was so weird; it was as though she was laughing for the first time.

The opera ghost watched her for some time before noticing that she was yawning and struggling to stay awake. She stood and walked over to a faded chair that was in the corner of the hallway before sinking into it and falling asleep.

The phantom quietly opened the two way mirror and tiptoes over to her. He gazed down at the gorgous creature who was sound asleep before him before scooping her figure into his arms. To Erik's surprise, she hardly weighed anything at all- she was just a scrap of a child. The phantom cradled her close to his chest- for reasons unknown to him, but he argued rationally and told himself that he didn't want to drop her- and carried her to a random room and opened the door.

He cursed himself when he saw that it was Christine's old room. He hesiated- should he lie her onto the bed and leave, or should he find her another room to stay in?

The girl twitched and stirred, settling Erik's choice. He quickly crossed the room and settled her onto the bed, covering her shivering form with as many blankets as he could find for her.

He turned to leave and saw the five kittens had entered the room and were looking at him with their big, kitten eyes. Erik sighed before stooping over and picking up each kitten, setting them onto the bed with the girl. Once the last kitten was up with their new mistress, as he thought of her being, he turned to leave, lighting one candle for her to see by if she should wake up.

He turned to look at her one last time and smiled gently at the angel whoes face was illuminated by the moonlight.

And with a quiet swoosh of his cloak, he left her to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Magic of the Opera**

**I do not own Phantom of the Opera or any of the songs that will pop up during this story.**

**SUMMERY:**

**Desire. Seduction. Passion. Betrayal. Revenge. In all your fantasies/ You always knew/ That man and mystery/ Were both in you...**

The next morning, the girl woke up to the feeling of the sun on her face. She stretched and moved only to discover that she was trapped beneath a tower of blankets. She couldn't remember climbing into a bed the night before; she decided that she must've been more tired than she thought she was.

She opened her eyes and smiled as she saw one of her newly adopted kittens was on her chest, staring into her eyes. Once he saw that she was awake, he licked her nose with his sandpapery tongue and wouldn't stop until she freed her arms and plucked him off of her chest. She made a mental note to start training them as soon as she could. She stood from the bed and looked around her, taking in her surroundings.

The bedroom was once beautiful, decorated in reds and golds, with dark wood floors. There was a bed, a vanity, and closet, all made of mahogany. The full length mirror in the corner showed the girl her disheveled appearance as she tried to smooth down her unruly curls, which had popped her cap off while she was asleep. She looked around for it and found it on top of a oak trunk.

_Weird_, she thought, mashing the hat back on top of her hair, pushing the hip length braid back under the hat. She suddenly felt her stomach beginning to rumble, so she decided to go and get something to eat from the market place. She only had a few copper coins on her, but knew that would be enough for her to buy a small pastry for herself and fish scraps for her pets.

~xXx~

Erik watched as the girl left the opera house with her litter of kittens following closely behind her. He would miss those funny cats...

He smiled as he watched the girl buy a fish from the vender who sold seafood. She signed to him instead of talking, but the man seemed to know what she was saying. Suddenly, two of the kittens jumped up onto the counter and began to play with the man's beard. To Erik's surprise, the gruff, usually unfriendly man began to laugh with tears rolling down his face. He reached under the counter and brought out one of the high quality fish that he took pride in selling and wrapped it up for the girl, despite her fingered protests. He told her something with hand motions before gently pushing her out the door and into the crowded streets of Paris. She shrugged before hoisting her parcel into her armpit more and walking swiftly to the bakery.

Erik lost sight of her from on top of the opera house until she emerged about twenty minutes later, shaking the owner's hand and signing away happily. Erik could barely make out the baker's mouth forming the words _"You're hired, little one. Report for work tomorrow morning and my daughter will show you what all needs to be done."_ The girl smiled happily before turning to skip towards the opera house once more with her little line of kittens scampering behind her.

Erik found himself laughing gaily at the young girl's innocence and happiness as she reentered the opera house to feed her pets and herself. He walked over to the trapdoor that led back to his lair and pushed the level that opened the door. He looked around himself for the last time before dropping down into the darkness that comforted him.

~xXx~

The girl was happily exploring her new home while her kittens munched on their morning meal. She had so far discovered the costume room with all its moth eaten bolts of fabric, the prop room with water damaged props and was now going down a long corridor of doors, poking her head inside of each room, taking in the different uses.

She soon reached a door at the end of the hall and opened it. She was met with darkness, so she rushed back to her room to grab a candle.

She lit the wick and darted back down towards the closet with her kittens following her closely on her heels.

She stepped inside the closet.

And she fell.


End file.
